president obama believed and the democrats believe they have a mandate after the election. now, a mandate, you know, depends what you call a mandate. the election was not really close, but it wasn't also a grand slam for the democrats either. so there's a real difference in who -- what the mandate is here. and democrats don't feel they need to compromise. i think they think if we go over the fiscal cliff, they will have even stronger negotiating power. that remains to be seen because oftentimes when taxes go up and there is something that hits the economy really hard and puts it into a tailspin, it's the president who takes the blame. so i think even the president is wondering who's going to foot the blame for this one. but at this point i think the democrats feel they have the upper hand at this moment. if they hold tight, they will force the republicans to capitulate. i don't see that happening. i think both sides are really going to have to give in before we get a final deal. jon: so we'll have to see, you know, which side wins the battle of public opinion or which of th